What is CIRTL INCLUDES?
Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES) is a comprehensive initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in science and engineering discovery and innovation by proactively seeking and effectively developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent from all sectors and groups in our society.
CIRTL INCLUDES is building the foundation for a national cross-sector alliance to increase the learning, persistence, and completion of underrepresented group (URG) STEM undergraduates across the entire higher education landscape, and thereby to increase their contribution to the U.S. STEM enterprise.
The alliance will develop STEM faculty, for all sectors of postsecondary education, able to use and adapt evidence-based, inclusive teaching, mentoring and advising practices that yield increased success of URG students.
To build such a national STEM faculty, the alliance is pursuing three mutually reinforcing strategic goals:
- Strategic Goal 1—Deepen the preparation of all future STEM faculty in evidence-based teaching, mentoring and advising practices that promote URG undergraduate success.
- Strategic Goal 2—Expand and strengthen faculty preparation specifically for 2-year colleges, where many URG students have their first STEM undergraduate experience.
- Strategic Goal 3—Target the preparation of future URG STEM faculty for effective teaching and mentoring, contributing to earlier success across the spectrum of their early-career responsibilities.
To accomplish these goals, the alliance is synthesizing and building on the extensive research base around broadening participation, and developing a research agenda to extend our knowledge about how to use that research base for impact toward broadening participation.
CIRTL INCLUDES Poster (PDF)